Early Snow... again

In September of 2017 we got a big dump of wet snow out at Nordegg.  It fell on the last day of summer, and messed up the construction schedule for the cottage.  At the time the framers were just putting up the roof trusses, and I was supposed to head out with my friends Rob and Brad to do the electrical rough in.  That's all water under the bridge now as the cottage eventually got closed in and the electrical work eventually was completed.

In September of 2018 we also got an early snow.  That one even resulted in some accumulation back home in Edmonton.  As I recall we got as much or more snow in the city, as we did out at the cottage.

For the third year in a row we were hit with a September snow out in Nordegg.  This year it held off until near the end of the month.  I understand that it started on the evening of Thursday the 26th.  It melted off on Friday during the day but then heavy accumulation started on Friday evening.

I headed out from the city on Saturday morning.  There was only the odd skiff of snow here and there and few flakes coming down, as I made my way out.  The highways were dry and bare most of the way out to the cottage.  By the time I got to Saunders ridge there was some snow cover in the ditches.  When I got to Harlech, it was snowing, there was significant snow in the ditches and the highway was partly covered.

There had probably been about 5 inches of snow at the cottage, but by the time I arrived around noon, it had settled a bit to about 3 to 4 inches.

I got a fire going in the cottage, unpacked a few supplies, and set to work.  I disconnected the old thermostat, and with clear wiring instructions from my friend Rob, set about installing the new one.  I got it all hooked up and working, including the installation of the APP on my phone.  This now allows me to monitor the temperature in the cottage remotely.

I brought along some aluminum panels for the outside landings.  One of my staff cut these for me on the CNC router at the shop.  I had the aluminum powder coated black and that was completed on Friday.  I brought them along and screwed them to the wood posts of the landings.  They look pretty sharp if I do say so myself... particularly the black color against all the fresh white snow. 

On Sunday morning when I got up, it was snowing heavily again, and another couple of inches came down.  I just puttered around on a few more chores at the cottage.  I made sure the thermostat was working properly.  I brought in a bunch of firewood... so that we have dry wood next time we come out.  By about 2:30 in the afternoon I packed up and headed for home.  The highway was actually in a little better shape than it was coming out on Saturday morning.  By the time I got to the east side of Saunders ridge, the snow accumulation was considerably less.  By Rocky Mountain House there was only a skiff and the highway was dry.  It was a cool, misterable, overcast day and the temperature only got up to a couple of degrees above zero.  But, by the time I got back to the city in the late afternoon, it was just wet, and everything was still green.  Perhaps there is some hope for a little more fall weather before we get into winter for good....